Man offered $100,000 bail for fraudulent passport application
A man was offered bail in the sum of $100,000 when he appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Tuesday, for obtaining a passport using a different name.
The accused, Kirvan Rovalio Cole, pleaded guilty to the charges of making a false declaration on a passport form and obtaining a passport by forged documents.
According to court documents, On Friday, July 29, the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) found discrepancies with the passport form under the name Kirvan Rovalio Cole. It was suspected that the applicant fraudulently obtained a passport in 2003 under the name Kirvan Roland McCalla.
PICA reportedly found that there were two completed passport application forms in the name Kirvan Rovalio Cole and another in the name Kirvan Roland McCalla, with photographs attached.
The court was told that investigators discovered that the application under the name McCalla was submitted on November 21, 2003, as a first-time applicant, supported by a birth certificate. The passport was later issued in January the following year.
However, upon noticing the discrepancies, checks were reportedly made with the Registrar General’s Department, but there was no record of that birth certificate.
Cole was contacted by PICA’s Investigation and Surveillance Unit (ISU) on Tuesday, August 9. He was cautioned about the allegations and subsequently arrested and charged.
After pleading guilty to the charges, Cole was advised to return to court on January 11, 2023, for sentencing. This is to facilitate the completion of a social inquiry report and criminal record.
A fingerprint order was also made.
“Is anybody [available] to bail you?” Parish Judge Maxine Dennis-McPherson asked the man.
“Yes,” he answered.
“I want to offer you bail and I want you to report to the police station. But, you are going to stay in custody until someone comes to bail you,” the judge said.
Cole is required to report to the nearest police station on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays between 6:00 am and 6:00 pm. He was also ordered to surrender all travel documents. A stop order was also made.
